Michael Peña to Star as Cesar Chavez in ‘Chavez’ Directed by Diego Luna

Variety is reporting that Mexican-American Michael Peña, 36, has been cast as Cesar E. Chavez in the new film about the civil rights leader’s life.

The movie, titled Chavez, will be directed by fellow actor Diego Luna and will also star America Ferrera as Chavez’s wife Helen, and Rosario Dawson as his friend Dolores Huerta. Luna’s close friend Gael Garcia Bernal has signed on to produce, as well as John Malkovich.

The biopic, which will reportedly hit theaters next year, has Luna excited to spread Chavez’s message to the world, telling Variety, “This man inspired an entire community to see themselves as deserving of basic rights and to rise up against injustice. The film will send the message that change is in our hands—Chavez did something everyone thought impossible with a fearless grace that magnetized an entire country.”

Peña grew up in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. He recently appeared in “Tower Heist” and has been seen in movies such as “Crash”, “Million Dollar Baby”, “Battle Los Angeles”, “World Trade Center”, and “Babel”, and has also appeared on television in Felicity, The Shield and Eastbound & Down.